Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews gets ready for Saturday's practice at Ray Nitschke Field. Players will put on pads for the first time this training camp on Sunday. H. Marc Larson/Press-Gazette Media

Written by

Rob Demovsky

Training camp will take on an entirely different feel today, when the pads go on for the first time.

One thing to keep a close eye on will be the Packers’ revamped offensive line.

As I noted in this story – http://pck.rs/13dmUXw – “It’s time to see whether the bold changes coach Mike McCarthy orchestrated three months ago on his offensive line will work … (because) nothing comes closer to simulating live game action, especially for linemen, than padded practices.”

In other news:

*Pete Dougherty wrote about the Packers’ reaction to the recent comments by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who said: “It got to the point where we could hear (the Packers) arguing when we were in our huddle” during the 49ers playoff victory in January. Read that and more about how the Packers are still working on defending the read-option here: http://pck.rs/14aPXh1

*Weston Hodkiewicz and I combined on a notebook that was topped with James Jones saying he thinks retired receiver Donald Driver may still want to play even at age 38. http://pck.rs/14aQ4cw

On a personal note, this is my last day at the Press-Gazette. I started on Sept. 29, 1997 and have enjoyed (almost) every day of it. I’m moving on to ESPN, which has hired me to cover the Packers for its website, ESPN.com. I’m excited about this new venture and hope you will follow me there but also continue to be loyal to the Press-Gazette and PackersNews.com and read the fine work that Mike, Pete and Wes will continue to produce. They’re an amazing group of writers, and I will miss working side by side with them. Also, I’m sure they’d be open to suggestions for ways to write me out of “The Insiders.”